Aedis aegypti, found in Ashland for the first time, is capable of spreading Zika and dengue; officials widen search and urge residents to eliminate standing water
By Damian Mann for Ashland.news
A disease-spreading, invasive mosquito with a penchant for human blood has been discovered in neighborhoods of south Ashland.
Known as aedes aegypti (pronounced like “80s egypti”), it was previously discovered in Talent last year, and was found this week in the Clay Street Park neighborhood, setting in motion a response from Jackson County Vector Control District, which has set up traps and placed door hangers in the area of Clay and Glendale streets, south of Main Street and north of Siskiyou Boulevard.
A total of 25 aegypti have been found after three days of setting out traps.
On Tuesday, six aegypti were found, and a wider search on Wednesday trapped 16, followed by three trapped on Thursday.
The mosquito, which has evolved to target humans specifically, has spread dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika diseases in other parts of the world, but so far aegypti found locally have shown no trace of these diseases.
Aegypti have proliferated in other parts of the country, including in California.
